Well Daredevil Season 2 debuted on Netflix March 18th and I guess there were a lot of fans screaming at them to make it a reality. (I’m not thrilled.) From Marvel.com:

“We want to thank the fans who are clamoring for more of Jon’s stunning and powerful performance as Frank Castle from ‘Marvel’s Daredevil,’” said Executive Producer/Head of Marvel Television, Jeph Loeb, “Now combined with Showrunner Steve Lightfoot’s compelling writing, we’re thrilled to bring ‘Marvel’s The Punisher’ to Netflix.”

“Jon hooked our global audience with his performance as Frank Castle from the moment he stepped on screen in ‘Marvel’s Daredevil,’ and we are looking forward to seeing more of him in this role under the vision of Steve Lightfoot,” said Cindy Holland, Netflix Vice President of Original Content.

“For me, the complexity and unpredictability of Frank Castle make him an incredibly compelling character and I couldn’t be more excited to dive into his world,” said Executive Producer and Showrunner, Steve Lightfoot. “After watching Jon’s performance in ‘Marvel’s Daredevil’ I could not be more excited to be working with him to further develop and progress the story of this anti-hero in a show of his own.”

“When they announced that Jessica Jones was getting a second season, every single report said, ‘It should come as a surprise to no one that Jessica Jones has received a second season order’. I’m the guy going, ‘Well, it was a surprise to me!’

“It isn’t a given in television. The fact that we get to continue telling stories with these characters speaks a lot about the quality of the storytelling and the acting and the writing. We are telling the best stories that we can at Netflix, and they seem to be responding to it.”

Maybe…just maybe it was a surprise to you because you don’t understand Jessica Jones or its audience? After hearing the news I mentioned on Twitter that it would be nice if Marvel would make an official announcement of Agent Carter Season 3 (perhaps even moving it to Netflix since the ratings aren’t what ABC would like), or greenlight a Hellcat spinoff with Patsy from Jessica Jones, or a She-Hulk series (where the main character actually cares about practicing law), or a show for Kamala Khan a.k.a. Ms. Marvel (there’s been talk of an ABC series for her for a while now but nothing solid).

The reality is yes, a Punisher series makes sense. Why? Because you put him out there. Of course people were going to eat him up and want more. (“If you build it, they will come.”) People love the character from the comics and people loved seeing a “bad” guy kill a bunch of bad guys. And Marvel wasn’t going to hold off on this announcement, they were going to capitalize on the current buzz. But it would be really great to see Marvel (who recently said they have “a very strong record of diversity in its casting of films“) announce more projects featuring women or POC leads in general so that when they announce another Caucasian, male lead, no one blinks an eye.

We got a full story arc for Frank Castle in Daredevil so I have no idea where he’ll go in his own series but I know I won’t be watching. Personally, seeing stories on the news all too often of a man going on a shooting rampage for what he thought were the right reasons is enough for me.

13 Responses to “Marvel Announces Jon Bernthal Will Get His Own 13-Episode Punisher Netflix Series”

I’m a big fan of the Punisher, so I just hope that they have the guts to REALLY criticize his motives and methodology. Like Batman, I’ve long felt that the Punisher is most interesting when he’s struggling to justify himself.

One of the best things about Garth Ennis’s run on Punisher MAX was showing that Frank wasn’t a Badass Oneliner spouting He-man who saved the damsels and saved folks YAY…He’s a jaded, bitter, angry man who is legitimately mentally ill and is NOT a force for good – he’s just better than the people he goes after. He has no friends, no family, just a few “Associates” and contacts…If they stick with that interpretation, I think the show will be pretty good.

I absolutely love this character, so I’m definitely excited about the news! I also love Elektra as much as I love Daredevil, and while I wasn’t entirely happy with her depiction (read: more plot device than person) in the new show, there was a lot of promise there and I would absolutely love for her to get the same shot.

Or at least her own ongoing comic again. Please, Marvel? The last one was so good but only 11 issues. *Starving* for more Elektra.

Like Evelyn mentions below, Misty Knight would be amazing, or even a duo show with her and Colleen Wing. Daughters of the Dragon, baby!